FLINT, MI--As thousands of cars piled into downtown Flint
for the 9th Annual Back To The Bricks car show, a statue was unveiled downtown that
depicted one of the men responsible for much of Flint's rich automotive
history.

A statue of William C. Durant, the founder of General
Motors, was unveiled downtown on Saturday morning, between statues of two fellow Flint icons, after a ceremony that
began at 10 a.m.

The ceremony began with a prayer by St. John the Evangelist Parish's Father Andrew Czajkowski, two planes flying over downtown and the playing of the national anthem.

Next, Back To The Bricks Chairman Al Hatch lead a program that included several speakers. First, Mayor Dayne Walling gave a brief thanks to the audience and to the other speakers.

"You can see the best of Flint on display during Back To The Bricks," Walling said. "Dare I say, You'll get a glimpse of what makes not only what makes this community, but this country great, and this country proud."

Afterward, General Motors North America President Mark Reuss spoke to the audience, minutes after leaving the Durant-Dort Carriage factory and office building on Water Street.

He briefly spoke about Durant's career history: starting the Flint Road Cart Company, renaming it into the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, and founding General Motors four years after finding interest in locally-built Buicks and taking the helm of Buick.

"It's about time Mr. Durant earned an impressive statue like this here in downtown Flint, along the side of his peers," he said. "I hope we can build on this recognition by making sure the Durant-Dort complex is restored, celebrated, and becomes a destination point for anyone interested in learning more about General Motors, Flint, and the fascinating birth of an industry."

He added that General Motors confirmed its purchase of the Durant-Dort carriage factory, and said GM is currently putting plans together with University of Michigan-Flint, Kettering University and Sloan Museum with how to restore and use the factory.

A statue of General Motors founder William C. Durant is unveiled at the 9th Annual Back To The Bricks car show in Flint on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2013.William E. Ketchum III | MLive.com

"Rest assured, our investment will be in the millions for Flint, and it will be worth it," he said. "It will truly be a destination for anyone that lives here, but also, anyone interested in the automobile history."

Next, former Flint Journal reporter and author Larry Gustin shared more detailed history about Durant's life before and after founding General Motors, and sculptor Joe Rundell spoke about his process of working on the statue.

Two of William C. Durant's great-grandsons then spoke to the audience, with one of them, Duke Merrick sharing a short poem dedicated to the occasion.

After the statue donors Dale and Mary McClelland spoke to the crowd, the statue was unveiled.

The depiction of Durant completes a statue plaza on S.
Saginaw Street, which also includes statues of fellow Flint icons Louis
Chevrolet and David Buick.

A previous Flint Journal story reported that each statue
costs around $60,000 apiece--$40,000 for the actual statue, and $20,000 to
cover the cost of pedestals--and relied on donations to make them a reality.

The statue shows Durant holding his left hand over his heart, facing in the direction of the
Durant-Dort Carriage factory and office building, which is recognized as a
national landmark as the birthplace of General Motors.

"It was unintended, but you couldn't have scripted it any better," Hatch said.

After the statue was unveiled, a cacklefest - a loud startup of the race cars behind the ceremony in the flat lot - signified the official opening of Back To The Bricks.

This week, the office building received another Durant: a
piano that Durant received as a wedding gift in 1885 from his father-in-law Ralph
S. Pitt, who was also the ticket agent for the Flint and Pere Marquette
railroad station in Flint.

The statue's unveiling was one part of the Back To The
Bricks scene in downtown Flint on Saturday morning. Car show parking opened
hours earlier, so thousands of cars--ramchargers, dragsters, Corvettes, Buicks, antique trailers and more--lined S. Saginaw St., the flat lot, Martin Luther King. Jr. Blvd., and surrounding blocks.

At McFarland Park, a collection of five military vehicles
from World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War were on display, including the
Flint-built M-18 "Hellcat" tank destroyer. Shuttle buses also began to take
attendees to Glenwood Cemetery on Court Street, where they could see the grave
sites of Flint pioneers such as Jacob Smith and Charles Stewart Mott.

Spectators filled the streets and sidewalks to admire the
cars and enjoy the scene.